


Bite Thy Thumb

by kiryuinsisters



Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: F/F, set during the time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-08 09:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1935873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiryuinsisters/pseuds/kiryuinsisters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the rest of the former student council works alongside Nudist Beach to fight the life fibers, Nonon makes it her personal mission to find Satsuki and rescue her from Ragyo's clutches. But when duty becomes obsession, will Nonon be able to keep it together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I like the idea of Nonon as a tragic heroine, so here's a short three act story set in the month Ryuuko is in a coma. I'll come back to Hajime Hinata PI after I'm done here, I promise!

“Our first location is a two bedroom house located in the One Star district, just five minutes away from public transport and shopping facilities. Highly recommended for first home buyers such as yourself. Take a look around and see what you think.”

Nonon strolled through the kitchen, running a hand over the marble benchtop. Stainless steel pans and utensils hung from a series of hooks above her, covered with scratches and scuffs from frequent use. Magnets and post-it notes covered the fridge door, framing a calendar which this month was depicting a golden retriever puppy in a field of grass. The notes scrawled in by the previous inhabitants varied from doctor’s appointments to soccer practice, which appeared to be on Tuesday afternoons.

“If you’ll follow me down the hallway you will see the laundry and bathroom facilities. The previous owners had the shower renovated just before they left so it’s all very modern. No need to worry about running out of hot water in the mornings!”

“Oh? What a shame.” Nonon examined the bathroom mirror, fixing a tuft of hair that had fallen out of place while she was there. She giggled. “I was hoping for an excuse for my girlfriend and I to shower together.”

The tour continued on down the hall, leading to the master bedroom. It was a four poster bed, just like her old one. She flopped down onto the neat blankets, resting her left arm on the mass of pillows at her head.

“I love it! But… are you sure it’s within our price range?”

“I’m sure we can work something out. What is it that you do for a living, Miss Jakuzure?”

“What? You’ve never heard of me?” She tutted under her breath. “I’ll forgive you, but just this once. Nonon Jakuzure, musical prodigy! The finest conductor Japan has ever seen. No autographs, I insist. Oh, what’s that? I suppose I could make a little exception…”

Nonon hopped to her feet and waltzed over to the wardrobe door. There was definitely movement inside. Was it? Yes, the soft ‘pomf’ of cloth against cloth. Her tipoff was correct.  
With her bare heel, Nonon kicked in the wood just above the doorknob. A screech came from the darkness within, followed by wild flapping. Nonon drew her blade and pressed herself against the wall beside the door.

The COVER swooped out of the wardrobe, knocking the door the rest of the way off its hinges. It flew right past her, and she used the opportunity to sever the thread coming from its back. The fabric menace collapsed in an unruly pile. A routine kill.

Now came the moment of truth. Nonon flicked on the light switch, illuminating the dresses and button-downs that lined the walls. A red bundle of thread sat in a pitiful coil at the end. Nonon ran her hands over the floor, looking for a trap door or secret entrance. But it appeared there was nothing.

She sighed. It was doing bad things for her health, getting her hopes up every time. She was powering through at least twenty houses a week, all with the same result. The fact that she’d started talking to herself and playing make-believe on missions was testament to that. Maybe the others back at Nudist Beach headquarters were right. Maybe she was losing it.

But right now wasn’t the time for selfishness. Somewhere in this city the person that meant more to her than anything else was being held captive and it was up to her to find her. After all, nobody else seemed to care enough to do what she was doing. Lady Satsuki’s life was in her hands, and if she had to give up her sanity to save her then so be it.

“Thank you for your time, but we’ll keep looking.” She bowed to the imaginary real estate agent. “The place I’m looking for is out there somewhere. I just know it.”


	2. Act I

Nonon leant back on her chair, stifling a yawn with the back of her wrist. Back at the Academy, she’d been by no means a late riser. Satsuki was up at four thirty every morning and it would hardly do for the four devas not to follow her example. But as her nights scouring the city got later and later, Nudist Beach’s incessant early morning meetings only became more and more of a bother.

Today Nudist Beach’s top brass had been separated into two clear groups – the audience and Iori. For the past half an hour he’d been talking about some new device he was working on to combat the COVERS, which she’d paid attention to for maybe the first few sentences. PowerPoint slides crammed with jargon were melding into a giant mess in front of her eyes. Her blinks were getting heavy, threatening to become full-sized naps.

She wasn’t too worried, of course. The other former devas seemed to be paying attention, so if there was anything important they could fill her in later. This gadget would more likely than not turn out to be a failure anyhow, just like the last however many. Everyone in the room was dutifully ignoring the fact that there were only two things that stood even the slightest chance against Ragyo and the life fiber menace. One was conked out downstairs, as she’d been for almost a month now. The other… was obvious.

“How far away is a working prototype?” Aikuro Mikisugi, head of Nudist Beach, crossed his arms.

“At our current rate of progress, two or three days.” Iori swayed and shuffled from side to side, digging his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “Optimistically.”

“It will have to do. I look forward to seeing the end product. Meeting adjourned!”

Nonon got to her feet, rolling her right shoulder back and wincing as it popped and cracked. The other devas didn’t pay her any attention. They were already used to her almost non-existent presence at their meetings. In all the time they’d been here she didn’t actually think she’d spoken up once. She had more important things on her mind.

For now, Nonon would just go on as she always had – pretending that three hours sleep was enough, that eight in the morning was an appropriate time to start drinking and that today was without a doubt the day she’d find Satsuki.

 

Asides from the odd celebratory sake, Nonon had never really been a drinker. For one thing it was illegal. For another Satsuki would have killed her if she found out she’d been hiding alcohol in the academy without her knowledge. But with no more Satsuki, academy or societal order, it seemed like an appropriate habit to pick up.

The only taps still flowing were the ones in the No Star District, which had more or less been underground even before shit hit the ceiling. The characters weren’t what you’d call savoury, but through trial and error the locals had learnt to keep their hands off and their eyes up. With the usuals terrified out of their minds and the rest of the gang up at Nudist HQ, she could get some peace and quiet. Most days, anyway.

“These are your regular haunts now, are they?” Sanageyama ran a finger over the bar and lifted it up to his nose. Nonon already knew what he would smell – stale beer, slopped with such vigour that it now formed a thin veneer over the wooden panelling of the bar. He scrunched his nose up, proving her correct.

Nonon hid her smile as she shrugged and took a sip of cheap wine. “You adapt.”

“Yeah, we did adapt. It’s you we have doubts about.”

The girl looked up at Sanageyama, who matched her gaze. They stayed that way for a moment. She sighed.

“I don’t want to hear it, Monkey.”

“Jakuzure, you’re getting further away from us every day. The four devas need to stick together.”

“What part of ‘I don’t want to hear it’ did you not understand?”

“Cut the crap!” He scowled. “You think this is what Satsuki would have wanted?”

“Don’t you dare talk to me about what Satsuki would have wanted.” Nonon’s voice had gone almost as low as Sanageyama’s. He sighed.

“Don’t think I don’t get where you’re coming from. Her retrieval is one of our highest priorities. But with Japan in chaos, people in danger and our forces spread thin, putting her at the top of the list is downright selfish.”

“If the idiots out there are dumb enough to get themselves eaten that’s their problem. Besides, cut the head off the beast and they’ll all come tumbling out anyway.”

“Oh, because cutting the head off worked so well last time.”

“So what, you’re blaming Satsuki for this now?”

Sanageyama scrunched up his fists. “What the hell is wrong with you, woman? We promised to help Nudist Beach, yet here you are drinking in some dingy hole and playing stupid blame games.”

Nonon glared at him. “Games? Loyalty is a game? Well that explains why you’re so happy out here playing Power Rangers like a child. Our lady always deserved better than you.”

“You won’t stir me up, Jakuzure. I’m not going to wallow in your pain with you.” Sanageyama stood up, nudging the bar stool to one side. “I’m going to say it one last time. Give up on the white knight crap and do your job as a Nudist Beach agent properly. That’s the only way we’re going to get Satsuki back.”

Nonon leaned forward and tossed the contents of her wine glass over Sanageyama’s crotch in an overexaggerated movement. She put a hand to her mouth. “Oh sorry, did that get on you?” Her face was an expressionless mask, looking up at Sanageyama as if a complete stranger. “You’d better go wash that off.”

Sanageyama pawed at his outfit, scowling. “I expected better from you, Nonon.”

“Piss off.” Nonon turned her back on the former deva, waving her glass in the barman’s direction. “Dickhead.”

“Fine. You’ll hear the news soon enough anyway.”

“More useless crap from Iori? Can’t wait.”

“If you call information on Satsuki’s whereabouts useless.”

Nonon froze on her seat. She turned her head, but Sanageyama had already left.


End file.
